The years 1925 through 1931 represent a period of incredible growth and advancement for aviation in the United States. World War I was over and the '20's were roaring. Aviation and its vast potential had caught the imagination of nearly everyone. At a time when there was not even a single road reaching across the United States, air travel was beginning to unite the country.

The potential for air travel did not escape the minds of Henry and Edsel Ford. Henry Ford had already revolutionized travel on the ground. Having invented the manufacturing assembly line, he restlessly pursued his dream of making automobile travel affordable to the general public instead of just a wealthy few. When the Fords met a man named William Stout, they decided to see what they could do in the field of aviation as well. Ford's impact on the development of modern aviation in the United States has been largely forgotten. Yet today, we enjoy many innovations in aviation first developed by Ford.

Those innovations are taken largely for granted or have been forgotten my most, though many of these innovations include the basic components of our air transportation system. For example, at a time when airplanes were landing in farmer's fields, often getting stuck in the mud, Ford installed the worlds first concrete runway. Ford even built one of the first airport hotels, the Dearborn Inn, to accommodate passengers from nearby Ford Airport.